XVUI 
ON THE THEORY OF GALVANOTROPISM 
ON THE POLAR STIMULATION BY THE CONSTANT CURRENT OF 
THE GLANDS OF THE SKIN OF AMBLYSTOMA' 
1. In experiments on the galvanotropism of adult Am- 
blystome I noticed a polar stimulation of the glands of 
the skin which soon interested me more than the galvano- 
tropic reactions themselves; for I found that the glands were 
always stimulated on the anodal side of the animal, and that 
there exists here a similar exception to Pfliger’s law as that 
which Kihnediscovered in Actinospherium. The phenomena 
were, however, of great interest in another direction. The 
activity of the glands of the skin was determined in part 
through a polar stimulation of the central nervous system by 
the galvanic current. It could easily be shown that in this 
case the central nervous system behaves as a homogeneous 
whole. Both facts, the stimulation at the anode as also the 
behavior of the central nervous system just mentioned, are, 
of course, of significance for the theory of galvanotropic 
phenomena. 
The skin of the fully developed Amblystoma contains a 
large number of glands which give out a mucoid secretion 
when stimulated in certain ways. The secretion forms a 
white layer upon the black skin. If a descending constant 
current of about 3 milliamperes, having a density of about 
36, is sent through the animal, a secretion is formed upon 
the anterior half of the head (Fig. 126, ab). Small white 
dots appear, which become more distinct the longer the cur- 
1Pfliigers Archiv, Vol. LXV (1896), p. 308. This paper was the third in a series 
of communications on galvanotropism which, however, are not reprinted in these 
volumes. [1903] 
440 
Digitized by Microsoft® 
